Despite hardships from defense trims, budget cuts must be made

Roy Blunt

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt met with a group of area defense contractors and vendors last month. The reason? They are all worried about cuts in federal defense spending.

Whether it is sequestration, the "fiscal cliff" or balancing the federal budget, no one wants the ax to fall on their part of the tree.

But something will have to give, and someone will have to feel the blade of the fiscal-cutting ax.

Blunt, R-Springfield, is a newly appointed member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which has been given the task of helping control defense appropriations.

With across-the-board cuts in defense spending set to go into effect next month, Blunt is faced with some difficult choices.

And local businesses that have benefited from more than $141 million in defense contracts since 2000 are faced with uncertainty about their future business with the government.

But the country is faced with a genuine fiscal crisis - more money going out than coming in - and the uncertainty of that future affects us all.

There has been plenty of talk about cutting Medicaid, food stamps and other programs that serve the poor and the sick.

Even popular Social Security and Medicare have come under fiscal scrutiny that is likely to mean fewer senior citizens getting less money from government "entitlements."

All of those programs combined make up nearly 60 percent of the federal budget, making them obvious targets.

Defense spending is not as large but still makes up about 25 percent of the budget.

These two big spenders need to get under control, and that may mean some folks - whether they are poor, old or doing work for the Department of Defense - will take a hit.

We are fortunate that, while the area has benefited from millions spent on contracts with local providers, we do not depend on defense spending.

There are other communities that have real worries about the proposed 8.4 percent cuts coming.

It is unfortunate that local businesses will have to feel the pain of budget cuts, just as local citizens who depend on government assistance or retirement programs will suffer that same pain. But it is a reality that we will all have to accept.

We encourage Blunt and other lawmakers to set aside their partisan and local concerns and look for a long-term solution to a national problem, even if those solutions cut into the pocketbooks of voters and supporters.

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Despite hardships from defense trims, budget cuts must be made

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt met with a group of area defense contractors and vendors last month. The reason? They are all worried about cuts in federal defense spending.